“To those that want to demoralise young people, I say you don’t have a chance,” he affirmed, alleging that Zarb was only criticised because of his PL affiliations. 

Abela said he was ready to defend youth in Malta regardless of their political stances, including activists from PN’s youth wing, Team Start.

“I will defend young people like Nicole Grech and Eve Borg Bonello and their right to criticise the government. They have every right to have their voices heard and I’ll be the first to defend them against every attack,” he said.

“But I will say one thing together, we can do so much good for this country. Come and be part of ‘Team Malta’, which has the country at heart away from partisan politics.”

The Prime Minister’s comments come after both young women received a barrage of hate over recent days.

Team Start President Eve Borg Bonello had filed a hate speech report after receiving a string of insults in response to a tongue-in-cheek post making fun of government officials. 

Taking part in a clean up at Fort Chambray, Gozo, Borg Bonello posed for a photo, trash bag in hand and captioned it: “Walking back from Kastilja”, the Prime Minister’s office. One comment compared the rubbish bag to her dead relatives.

Meanwhile, Team Start Deputy President Nicole Grech  was attacked for one of her TikTok videos. In a video discouraging people from voting Labour, one comment said she should be careful or she’d “end up like Daphne”.

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